Boston’s Trash and Recycling Contracts Fall 2013 City of Boston Public Works Department 1 Agenda 1. Overview 2. Current Operations 3. Contract Structure/Timeline 4. Where Boston’s Trash & Recycling Goes 5. The Importance of Recycling & Diversion 6. Goals in New Contract 7. Feedback 2 Overview Boston’s trash and recycling contracts are going to be rebid in spring 2014. We are meeting today, to: Understand How the waste reduction system works. What the City’s goals are in the new contract. Give feedback What do you think would help meet the City’s goals of service reliability, street cleanliness and increased recycling/diversion? 3 Current Operations 4 Current Operations By the numbers 20% of Boston’s residential refuse is recycled • 15% – single stream recycling (32,000 tons) • 5% - yard waste & special collection recyclables, such as CRTs, electronics, tires, white goods $40.2 million in annual costs in FY2013 • $22.1 million for collection expense • $18.1 million for disposal expense Current Operations By the numbers (continued) 300,000 households served weekly 240,000 tons of Municipal Solid Waste managed each year 60 trash/recycling trucks working daily in the city 100 staff performing collection of trash and recyclables 33 City staff inspect and oversee collection citywide Contract Structure/Timeline New Contract Timeline Fall 2013 Jan 2014 Mar 2014 April 2014 Summer 2014 Public Disposal Collection Bidding New Meetings Contracts Contracts Process Contracts & Survey Bid Out Bid Out Closed Begin Bidding Process • The City secures disposal/processing fees at all available facilities first. • These are provided to collection vendors, who provide prices to haul to each. • This is the most cost-effective way for the City to get services. • Collection of both trash & recyclables is performed by same hauler in each district. 7 Contract Districts Collection/Disposal Services Divided into Five Districts . District A: Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown, Bay Village, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End, North End, Roxbury, Fenway, Mission Hill/Fort Hill, Financial/Leather District . District B: Jamaica Plain, Allston/Brighton . District C: North & South Dorchester, Mattapan . District D: East & South Boston . District E: West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Roslindale Districts are structured to ensure a relatively even distribution of collections between 7am-4pm Monday-Friday, which yields lowest overall collection costs for taxpayers. Where Boston Trash Goes District Flow A & D: Charlestown, Chinatown, Covanta Transfer Station Downtown, Bay Village, Back Bay, Lynn, MA Beacon Hill, South End, North End, Roxbury Fenway, Mission Hill/Fort Covanta Waste to Energy Hill, Financial/Leather District, East & South Boston Plant – Haverhill, MA C & E: North & South Dorchester, Covanta Transfer Mattapan, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Braintree, MA Roslindale Covanta Waste to Energy Plant – Rochester, MA B: Jamaica Plain, Allston/Brighton Waste Management – Waste Energy Plant, Saugus, MA Where Boston Recycling Goes District Flow A & D: Charlestown, Chinatown, Direct haul to Casella - Downtown, Bay Village, Back Bay, Charlestown, Ma. Beacon Hill, South End, North End, Roxbury Fenway, Mission Hill/Fort Hill, Financial/Leather District, East & South Boston B & E: Jamaica Plain, Allston /Brighton, Haul to transfer station West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Roslindale in Charlestown Waste Mgt Recycling Plant - Avon, Ma C: North & South Dorchester, Mattapan Direct haul to Waste Mgt Recycling Plant, Avon Ma, Economics of Recycling Municipal Solid Waste management incurs both collection & disposal costs. Trash Recycling Program Collection Cost per Ton $89/ton $116/ton Disposal/Processing Cost or Revenue $82/ton + $1/ton Total Waste Management Costs per Ton $171/ton $115/ton Each ton of waste diverted from the trash and into recycling saves the City $56/ton. 11 Recycling & the Environment Boston’s trash and recycling contracts are an important part of the City’s broader waste management and climate action strategy. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Waste e 250,000 2 Within the waste sector CO alone, Boston’s Climate 200,000 Action Plan aims to achieve 150,000 the following goals by 2020: 100,000 • Reduce GHG emissions by 40% 50,000 • Divert 50% of both commercial and residential waste 0 • Capture 2/3 of organics 2006 2010 2014 2018 Current Baseline 2020 Goal 12 Recycling - Where are we now? Boston’s Waste Profile Districts with Highest Diversion Rate (Single Stream Only) • District E: 20% • District B: 20% • District A: 13% • District D: 11% • District C: 10% • Citywide: 15% Less dense portions of the City tend to recycle more. 13 Goals Goals: To provide high-quality services, keep the streets clean and promote recycling, while providing flexibility to pursue other diversion efforts in coming years. Service Quality– Continue reliable collection of trash/recyclables expected by Boston residents, with a seamless transition to new contract on July 1, 2014. Cleanliness – Keep streets clean and free of litter. Promote Recycling & Reduce Waste – Continue efforts to increase diversion of trash. Actions to Date Service Quality – • Management of Missed Trash/Late Put-Outs Complaints: over 99% resolved within 1 business day Cleanliness – • Efforts to Promote Containerization: Big blue recycling carts, clear plastic recycling bags. • Alignment of Street Sweeping Schedules: Streets are now swept after trash collection Promote Recycling & Reduce Waste – • Single Stream Program : Roll citywide has doubled recycling tonnage since 2009. In FY13, single stream recycling tonnage increased 3% over prior year, with trash volumes down 2%. • Boston Public Schools: System wide recycling will be in place by November 2013. • Pubic Realm Recycling: 400 public recycling containers placed on-street in 2012/13 and new containers installed in Parks this fall. • Reducing food waste: Composting via drop off pilot and household composting; Insinkerator pilot 15 Areas for Feedback 1. Timing of Additional Yard Waste Collections . The 2014-2019 contracts will allow for four additional weeks of yard waste collection. PWD has some flexibility in when these additional weekly collections occur and would like your input. 16 Areas for Feedback 2. Better Align Trash and Recycling Collection Schedules Downtown . Areas with 2-3 weekly trash collections, only receive recycling services 1x/week. Diversion rates in areas without recycling collected each time trash is collected are 13% lower than citywide average. 17 Areas for Feedback 2. Better Align Trash and Recycling Collection Schedules Downtown (Cont.) . The Public Works Department is conducting a detailed waste audit of trash/recycling patterns in multiple collection areas in late September to guide decision-making. Results of this will be posted on the PWD website in early October. Moving these areas to trash and recycling collection 2x/week could increase diversion and street cleanliness. Areas for Feedback 2. Better Align Trash and Recycling Collection Schedules Downtown (Cont.) Areas for Feedback 2. Better Align Trash and Recycling Collection Schedules Downtown (Cont.) * * the percentage of recyclable materials in full waste stream that are recycled Weekly Trash Collections Weekly Recycling Collections Areas for Feedback 3. Interest in Future Food Waste Diversion . Many cities have developed curbside food waste collection programs, or announced plans to do so. But the facilities needed to process the volume of organics potentially generated by a curbside collection program do not yet exist in the Boston region. State regulations requiring commercial food waste diversion begin in 2014, which may create the infrastructure needed to manage citywide residential organics collection in the future. 21 Areas for Feedback 3. Interest in Future Food Waste Diversion . PWD’s 2014-2019 contracts will include a provision ensuring the City has flexibility to explore food waste diversion programs in the future. PWD would like to know more about how you manage food waste today. 22 How to get involved? Your feedback is needed on these specific questions, as well as other ideas to help the City provide high-quality services, keep the streets clean and promote recycling, while providing flexibility to pursue other diversion efforts in coming years. Get involved in the discussion at: www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks 23 .